Grisham ready for challenge at Road Atlanta
♦ Rome resident set to race close to home as part of two-day World Racing League event
It will be two long, hot days of endurance racing at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this weekend, but Rome resident Hannah Grisham said she is ready and excited for the challenge.
Grisham will compete along with her Round 3 Racing and Hagerty Motorsports team at the World Racing League event at the track in Braselton on Saturday and Sunday with each day’s race starting around 8 a.m. and usually going into the afternoon as they take around six to seven hours to complete. She will likely drive the No. 605 Porsche Boxster for a single “stint,” which is anywhere from 1.5 to two hours or one tank of fuel, before fellow drivers Dennis Neel and Carter Pease complete the other portions of the race.
“We raced at Road Atlanta last year so it will be good to be a bit familiar with the track and the whole set-up,” said Grisham. “Plus we’re used to the heat and humidity. It’s going to be hot, but we’re looking forward to this race. I feel like we have a really good chance at winning this weekend. Myself and my teammates are all similar in speed and pace so we should be able to compete for the top spot.”
When she’s not racing, Grisham is a dynamics test engineer (or test driver) at Pirelli North America. She has been involved in some kind of competitive driving since she was around six years old as she wanted to follow in her dad’s footsteps.
“When I was growing up, my dad raced off-road motorcycles, and I started to show interest in that,” said Grisham. “But my dad said motorcycles were too dangerous so for my sixth birthday I got a go-cart. It was something fun to do on the weekends, and then I started racing on the weekends. I did that for about 10 years, and then I got the opportunity to race in the Spec Miata series. I did that for a few years before I joined this team last year and started racing endurance. So I’ve been doing some kind of racing for about 16 or 17 years now.”
Grisham added that her goal for the future is to eventually move into GT3 racing or at least that is the path she currently sees herself pursuing.
Grisham joined the Round 3 Racing team in 2021 and helped them to a General Production 3 (GP3) national championship. The No. 605 car won five races last season and has started out strong in 2022 as they have captured the pole position to start each race they have competed in so far while also winning their season debut at Road America.
The team will arrive at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Friday to get everything set up before the action officially begins with Saturday’s race. There will be multiple classes of cars competing in the race with Grisham’s team’s car in a class that will feature 15-20 competitors.